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FAQ

Here's my frequently asked questions. I'll be adding to this as I think of more.

FAMILY Why is your husband called Boz?:It's a conjunction of his first and middle name Brendan Oz

How did you come up with your kids names?: Clementine is just a name that Boz and I have both always liked. As soon as we found out we were pregnant we decided that if we were having a girl she would be Clementine, but we fought tooth and nail over boys names. Her middle name Joelle is a combination of our mothers names Jo and Laurel. Bowie got his name because I wanted to pay tribute to my father David, but wanted a more original name. We brainstormed famous David's and decided on Bowie. His middle name Thomas is my brother's name and Boz's Father's name.

What does your husband do for a living?:Boz works in advertising and web design

Do you have any siblings?:I have a brother who is 14 months older than me, and Boz has a brother who is 3 years younger than him. My brother married one of my best friends Cristie who I am very happy to call my sister.

How old were you when you had Clementine?: I was 24 years old

NAILS

Yes I paint my own nails, and they are my real nails. For the most part I just use the brush that comes in the polish bottle, and a toothpick or old felt tip liquid eyeliner brush for details. I don't really have a favorite polish, but I do use my ORLY polishes that Boz got me for my birthday quite a bit. Mostly though I just use the cheap stuff like wet 'n' wild or NYC.

My natural color somewhere between a dark ash blonde and light ash brown. To get my copper red I use Loreal Feria Hair Color 74 Copper Shimmer (Deep Copper Blonde) and to keep my color bright between touch ups I use Tressa Watercolors Color Maintenance Shampoo in Fluid Fire or liquid copper (depending on if I'm feeling more orange or red). This shampoo has literally saved my color. I can go more than two months with no fading, and if it weren't for my roots I'm not sure that I would ever have to touch up my color. Right now I buy it on amazon, but if you can find it someplace else for less please let me know!

For anybody reading this who doesn't know, over the course of about a year and a half after having Clementine I lost 100 lbs. I started around 230 and ended up around 130.

The biggest motivation for me was wanting to be a good role model for my daughter. I wanted her to have a mom that she could be proud of. I wanted to be healthy, and fit enough to keep up with her. There were times where I would go months without losing any weight, but I figured if I just kept at it and focused on my health instead of numbers they would eventually come down when my body was ready.
The most exercise I got in the beginning was packing Clem up into her stroller and walking to the grocery store everyday. Eventually I got to the point where I felt like walking wasn't enough anymore so I would have my Mom watch Clementine for me and I would use the little gym at her apartment complex for about an hour every night Monday-Friday. I started on the stationary bike, and eventually worked my way to the elliptical and finally the treadmill. The treadmill was my FAVORITE! I'd put my ipod on Marina and the Diamonds and jam out! I liked to speed walk on the highest incline and every few min lower it and start running. I never felt so good in my life than I did after I got done with a session of that.

What seems to work best for me diet wise is cutting out refined carbs (Most baked goods, white breads, pastas, snack foods, candies, sweets, and soft drinks). I have a CRAZY sweet tooth though, so I let myself have a serving of breyers strawberry ice cream (130 cal. a serving) every night (if I want it). That seems to keep me from freaking out one day and eating a whole cake in one sitting… I have done that.

I ate several small meals a day instead of three big ones, reasonably small portions for my breakfast-lunch-dinner meals and then snack on healthy stuff in between. I would eat something about every 2 or 2 1/2 hours to keep my metabolism working so I didn’t really get a chance to feel hungry. Staying around 1200 calories a day.

I DRINK A SHIT-TON OF WATER! I’ve read that it’s easy for the body to confuse hungry with thirsty, so anytime I feel hungry I drink a full glass of water before I run to the kitchen for food. Works wonders. Your body has less of a chance to crave things if it’s already getting what it really needs (good food with needed nutrients, hydration through water, etc). And it keeps your skin looking great!

I also drank a lot of green tea (I like the lemon ginseng kind and I'd add a little honey to it to sweeten it up a bit). I don’t know if that really helped much, but I liked it and it was just another way for me to get water. It was also nice to have something to be constantly sipping on, be it water or tea. Keeps you from snacking out of boredom.

Some snacks I like:
greek yogurt
tuna on wholewheat flat bread
a small salad
steamed veggies
baked sweet potato fries
apple slices with a tiny bit of peanut butter
celery sticks with peanut butter and pomegranate seeds or raisins
baked squash
a bowl of mixed berries
a plain old banana

The most important thing is to just watch your serving size. If you want something, HAVE IT! Just make sure, like, say it’s goldfish crackers you’re craving, a serving size of goldfish crackers is 55 fish for 140 calories. COUNT OUT 55 FISH! It’s so easy to sit down to a box of crackers and snack your whole days worth of calories away.

CROCHET
Clementine was born via emergency C-section due to her GIANT head, and none of the cute baby hats and headbands would fit her so I started making my own. I taught myself how to crochet by watching youtube videos. An old friend taught me the basic stitch and I took it from there. this video is really good for learning how to hook in a circle

CAN I MAIL YOU SOMETHING?

SURE! Just make sure to leave a link to your blog in the package so I know who you are!!